Horace Elgin Dodge
Horace Elgin Dodge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | May 17, 1868 Niles, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | December 10, 1920 (aged 52) Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Resting place | Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit |
| Known for | Founding Dodge Brothers Company which became present-day Dodge |
| Spouse | Anna Thompson Dodge |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | John Francis Dodge (brother) |
Horace Elgin Dodge Sr. (May 17, 1868 – December 10, 1920) was an American automobile manufacturing pioneer and co-founder of Dodge Brothers Company.
Early years and business
He was born in Niles, Michigan, on May 17, 1868.[1] His father owned a foundry and machine shop. Horace Dodge and his elder brother John Francis Dodge were inseparable as children and as adults. In 1886, the Dodge brothers moved to Detroit, Michigan, where they took jobs at a boilermaker plant. In 1894, they went to work as machinists at the Canadian Typograph Company across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario.[1]
In 1896, Horace Dodge married Anna Thompson, a Scottish immigrant born in Dundee. The couple had a son, Horace Jr., and a daughter, Delphine. Thompson later married actor Hugh Dillman after the death of Dodge.[2]
While brother John Dodge was the sales-oriented managerial type, Horace was a gifted mechanic and inveterate tinkerer. He invented the first dirt-proof ball bearing; in 1897, John arranged a deal for them to join with a third-party investor to manufacture bicycles. Within a few years, they sold the business and, in 1901, used the proceeds of the sale to set up their own machine shop in Detroit.[1] During their first year in business, the Dodge brothers' company began making parts for the automobile industry.
Automobiles
In 1902, they won a contract to build
For ten years, the Dodge brothers' company was supplier to Ford, and John Dodge worked as vice president of the Ford company. In 1913 the Dodge brothers terminated their Ford contract and devoted their energies toward producing a Dodge automobile.
He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1981.
Personal life
Despite their wealth and growing influence in the business community, the red-haired [3] Dodge brothers' crude manners and aggressive conduct made them socially unacceptable to most of the wealthy Detroit elite.[citation needed] In 1912, Horace Dodge built a red sandstone mansion in Grosse Pointe called Rose Terrace. The huge home with formal gardens and boat dock overlooked Lake St. Clair.
This was replaced by a second Rose Terrace, constructed in the 1930s by architect
A
Death
In 1919,
In 1925, Horace and John Dodge's widows sold their automobile business to
References
- ^ a b c d Burton, Clarence M., ed. (1922). The City of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV, pp. 308–313. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company.
- ^ a b "Mrs. Horace Dodge Dies at 103. Among World's Richest Women. Conflicts Over $100-Million Estate Predicted. Widow Survived 2 Children". The New York Times. June 4, 1970. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
Mrs. Anna Thompson Dodge, widow of Horace E. Dodge, the automotive pioneer, and one of the richest women in the world, died last night at her home, Rose Terrace. She was 103 years old and had been using a wheelchair for seven years.
- ^ Early history of the Dodge brothers
- ^ a b "On the New Nokomis (advertisement with photos of the three vessels)". Motor Boating. Vol. 26, no. 5. November 1920. p. 79. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ^ Day, Thomas Fleming (July 1917). "Nokomis A Floating Palace". The Rudder. Vol. 33, no. 7. pp. 451–453. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ^ "John P. Dodge Dies At Ritz-Carlton. Detroit Manufacturer Was Stricken With Pneumonia At Automobile Show. His Brother Recovering As Minority Stockholders Of Ford Company. They Won $60,000,000 Suit Against Henry Ford". The New York Times. January 15, 1920. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
John F. Dodge, the Detroit automobile manufacturer, who had been ill for a week with pneumonia in his apartments at the Ritz-Carlton, failed to survive the crisis of the attack and died last night at half past 10 o'clock. For some time before the end he was unconscious and unable to recognize his wife and daughters, who were with him.
- ^ Hyde (2005), pp. 117–118.[full citation needed]
- ^ "Horace E. Dodge Dies in Florida. Detroit Automobile Manufacturer Succumbs Suddenly at Beach Home. Brother Died This Year. Sole Head of Industry Employing 18,000 Men Began His Career as Machinist With John F. Dodge". The New York Times. December 11, 1920. Retrieved July 21, 2007.
Horace E. Dodge, millionaire automobile manufacturer, died here tonight at his Winter home.
- ISBN 0-19-514705-7.
- ^ Zacharias, Patricia (June 24, 2000). "Mrs. Dodge and the Regal Rose Terrace". The Detroit News-Michigan History. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2010.